henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (01/10/85)
The terminal that was formerly our "preferred choice" is out of production,
and we're not satisfied with the manufacturer's replacement. So we are
again hunting for the Perfect Terminal. This time we've made an attempt
to draw up some specs on what we want; the list is enclosed. We would
very much appreciate any leads on terminals that would meet these specs,
particularly if there's a Toronto-area distributor.
Comments on the specs are also welcome.
I'll post news on any really exciting finds we make.
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The order of items within each of these lists is not significant.
The following are non-negotiable requirements. Terminals which miss
on any of these will be considered only if we find *no* terminal that
meets all of them.
1. Choice of monitor color, to include at least white and green. We have
people who like green; we have people who can't stand anything but
white. No, amber is not an acceptable substitute for white.
2. Separate keyboard, with a durable cable of substantial length.
3. No fan, or a *very* quiet one. Also, no keyclick, or at least a way
to turn it off.
4. True descenders in the font.
5. If the terminal has a "status line" displaying constantly-changing
information like column number or status of shift keys, there must
be a way to turn this absolutely and completely off.
6. Good keyboard feel. This is obviously *partly* subjective. Keyclick
or keybeep is *not* an adequate substitute.
7. Standard layout of the main keyboard cluster. Terminals with keys
between Z and SHIFT need not apply. ESC in upper left, TAB just
below it, BACKSPACE in upper right, please. Keys to the right of
L should be :/; then "/' then RETURN. CTRL must be on the left
side, and preferably should be immediately to the left of A.
8. A light or a mechanical lock on the CAPS LOCK key.
9. Numeric keypad at least optionally available.
10. Arrow keys in a reasonable layout, sending codes that do not duplicate
control keys. E.g., left arrow must not send ^H.
11. The usual simple screen functions: cursor addressing, clear screen,
clear line.
12. The usual editing functions: insert/delete char, insert/delete line.
Scrolling regions are *not* an adequate substitute.
13. Inverse video for highlighting, *without* magic cookies. (A terminal
has magic cookies when changing from unhighlit to highlit or vice-
versa requires an empty screen position in between.)
14. Hardware tabs, settable remotely. There is no need for them to be
non-volatile, since we set them on every login anyway.
15. Ability to process incoming characters (all the way from cable to
screen) at a sustained rate of circa 1000 chars/s.
16. XON/XOFF flow control. No padding or delay requirements.
17. Cost to us, quantity one, less than about $1400.
The following are strongly desired, and will be the major points of
comparison between terminals for our purchasing decisions.
A. Small footprint. This means a reasonably small monitor *and* a
reasonably small keyboard.
B. Tilt/swivel monitor mount.
C. Brightness adjustable by a knob, not a mysterious key sequence.
D. "CRT saver": screen blanks out after prolonged inactivity, restored
by any activity (*not* only by some mystical incantation).
E. Insert-character operation done as a mode, not an insert-N-blanks
sequence (especially if the only available N is 1).
F. Two pages of screen memory.
G. A "visible bell" sequence that flashes the screen in a distinctive
manner without moving the cursor.
H. Ability to run full-screen inverse video without annoyances like
characters in column 1 lapping over into the black border.
I. Ability to process incoming characters (all the way from cable to
screen) at a sustained rate of circa 2000 chars/s.
J. An auxiliary port, bidirectional, with XON/XOFF handshaking working
100% on auxiliary devices when transmitting from the host to
the auxiliary device via the terminal.
K. Price under $1000.
The following are useful features that will have some influence on
purchasing decisions, other things (i.e. the above) being equal.
a. 132 columns optionally available.
b. More than 24 lines of normal text area.
c. Underlining mode (again, no magic cookies allowed).
d. Scrolling regions.
e. Smooth scroll ("ooze mode").
f. Cursor shape and blink settable (e.g. underline vs. block).
g. A small number of programmable function keys.
h. Absence of dozens of mysterious "control" keys. We prefer small and
simple keyboards.
The following are utterly irrelevant to us, or so unimportant that they
do not constitute a significant advantage for a terminal.
X. Block mode.
X. Emulation of, or compatibility with, any other terminal.
X. Protected fields and other form-filling "features".
X. Graphics symbol sets. (As opposed to real graphics.)
X. A "status line".
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Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry